Flat cable clamp

ABSTRACT

A flat cable clamp for mounting a desired number of piled flat cables. The clamp is provided with a contact board formed integral with the clamp body and to be brought into contact with the top flat cable. The contact board can be resiliently displaced via resilient members in the repulsive direction of the flat cables.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 110,018 filedJan. 7, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,526.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a flat cable clamp which can easily andefficiently retain either a single flat cable or a plurality of piledflat cables.

(2) Description of the Invention

Heretofore, there has been typically employed a type of cable clamp 1 asshown in FIG. 1. Said clamp 1 comprises a synthetic resin base board 3the longitudinal direction of which complies to the transverse directionW of a bundle of flat cables 2, an arrow-shaped protrusion 4 formedintegral with the back of the base board 3 for securing the base board 3to a supporting board for distributing wires and a press board 9 formedintegral with the top surface of the base board 3 at one of thelongitudinal ends thereof, which can be engaged and disengaged with theother longitudinal end of the base board 3 via a locking mechanism 8which consists of an unlock lever 5 and engaging hooks 6 and 7.

Therefore, in such case, since the necessary height H of an insertingchannel 10 provided for mounting cables and defined by the base board 3and the press board 9 varies depending on the number of flat cables tobe mounted, it is necessary to prepare at least as many number of flatcable clamps 1 as required so as to give the fitting with the flatcables in a certain height and furthermore, in reality, since the widthW of the flat cable 2 can vary depending on the particular flat cable inuse, the number of necessary flat cable clamps having different shapesin the term of width is increased, thus reducing the productivity ofclamps, which then increases the production cost and hence the wiringcost, and further complicates wiring operation, resulting in reductionin efficiency of such operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As a result of my intensive study to overcome the above problems, I havediscovered that the use of a flat cable clamp having a structure similarto that of a pantograph enables flat cables to be easily and securelyclamped irrespective of their number, thickness etc.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to eliminate theafore-mentioned drawbacks by providing a flat cable clamp which canclamp any number of flat cables.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the conventional type of flat cableclamp;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a flat cable clamp in accordance with thepresent invention, which is shown as the unclamped state;

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are a top view and a bottom view of the flat cableclamp illustrated in FIG. 2, respectively;

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are views of the flat cable clamp illustrated in FIG.2, observed in the directions A and B, respectively;

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are detailed partial views of the parts C and D of theflat cable clamp illustrated in FIG. 2, respectively;

FIG. 9 is a right side view of the illustration of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the illustration of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a front view of the flat cable clamp illustrated in FIG. 2,which is shown as the clamped state;

FIG. 12 is a front view of another flat cable clamp in accordance withthe present invention, which is shown as the unclamped state;

FIG. 13 is a view of the flat cable clamp illustrated in FIG. 12,observed in the direction F; and

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the details of the part G of theflat cable clamp illustrated in FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

One embodiment of the present invention will be described with referenceto FIGS. 2-11.

Referring to FIG. 2, a synthetic resin base board 12 the longitudinaldirection of which complies to the transverse direction of flat cables11 is provided and formed integral with a protrusion 13 on the bottom atone end and with an arrow-shaped protrusion 15 on the bottom at theother end. The protrusion 13 has a dent to be engaged with one fittinghole on a supporting board for distributing wires (not shown) and thearrow-shaped protrusion 15 has a resilient arrow-shaped member 14 to beengaged with the other fitting hole on the supporting board fordistributing wires, so that the combination of the protrusions 13 and 15constitutes an instantly engaging means 16. The base board 12 is furtherprovided on the bottom surface with resilient flaps 17 and 17' togetherwith a reinforcing rib 18 in order to eliminate the looseness betweenthe supporting board for distributing wires and the base board 12.

On the top surface of the base board 12, there is provided andintegrated with the base board 12 a press board 20 which is rockinglymovable by being connected with one of the longitudinal ends of the baseboard 12 by a hinge and can be engaged and disengaged with the otherlongitudinal end via a locking mechanism 19. As shown in FIG. 11, wherethe base board 12 and the press board 20 are in the locked state, whenan unlock lever 21 is pressed down in the direction R as in the Figure,an engaging hook 22 at the tip of the unlock lever 21 is released fromthe engagement with an engaging hook 23 at the tip of the press board20, which will immediately jump up to the position as shown in FIG. 2.

In the locked (i.e. clamped) state where the hooks 22 and 23 of thepress board 20 and the unlock lever 21 are engaged, as particularlyshown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a channel 24 at the tip of the press board 20 isengaged with a stopper 26 protrudingly provided on a guide wall 25 onthe base board 12 which receives the inner side of the tip portion ofthe press board 20, thus preventing the transverse slippage of the pressboard 20, i.e., keeping the press board 20 from the movement in thelongitudinal direction of the flat cables 11.

On the inner surface of the press board 20 facing to the top surface ofthe base board 12, there is provided a contact board 27 in combinationwith resilient members 28 formed integral with the press board 20, andthe contact board can be resiliently displaced via said resilientmembers in the repulsive direction of the flat cables 11 mounted on thebase board 12 and brought into contact with the contact board 27.

Now, the mode of application of the flat cable clamp described abovewill be explained in details.

When wiring is carried out simultaneously with clamping the flat cables11 with a flat cable clamp 29 having the structure described above, theprotrusions 13 and 15 are inserted into the fitting holes on thesupporting board for distributing wires to instantly secure the clamp 29to the supporting board, and at the same time, the flat cables 11 aremounted on the base board 12 in the unlocked state and the press board20 is locked with the base board 12 via the locking mechanism 19. Thus,the flat cables 11 are clamped between the base board 12 and the contactboard 27 by the resilience of the resilient members 28. Even when thenumber of the piled flat cables mounted on the clamps is increased, theposition of the contact board 27 can easily be raised using itsresiliency imparted by the resilient members 28, and therefore, anynumber of flat cables within the movable distance of the contact board27 can be clamped. In addition, in the case where a flat cable having awidth greater than that of the contact board 27 is to be clamped, it canbe smoothly clamped in the modestly curved state along the slopedsurfaces at both ends of the contact board 27 as shown in FIG. 11, andthus the damage to the cable itself is advantageously avoided.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the instantlyengaging means 16 employed in the particular example described above maybe replaced by other means, e.g., the one presented in FIG. 1 as theconventional embodiment, that coated with an adhesive or the like, andthat the external shape of the clamp 29 may be modified according to theshapes of the supporting board for distributing wires and the flatcables and the like.

FIGS. 12 to 14 present another embodiment of the present invention, inwhich the pantograph-shaped resilient members 28 are provided withsemi-circular connecting parts 30 at the respective turns, thus givingmore smooth displacement of the contact board 27. In addition, a biggerengaging hook 22 is used at the tip of the unlock lever 21 and when theunlock lever 21 is pressed down, the engaging hook 22 hits the bottom 31of the channel 24 at the tip of the press board 20 to lift it, thuseasily effecting the clamp-off operation. Advantageously, the hook 23 atthe tip of the press board 20 is constructed to have a double stage asshown in FIG. 14, and therefore, it is possible to choose between theupper hook 23a and the lower hook 23b depending on the height of cablesto be mounted. Further, the protrusion for engaging with the supportingboard for distributing wires 13 is changed into the one shown in FIG.12, thus preventing the whole clamp 29 from warping.

The material for the structure in accordance with the present inventionis not critical as long as it does not interfere the mechanism of theclamp, and those skilled in the art will readily select appropriatematerials for making the same.

The above description has been presented for the purpose of enablingthose skilled in the art to practice the present invention and has notattempted to describe all the possible modifications and variations ofthe invention which will become apparent to those skilled in the artupon reading this disclosure. It is intended, however, that all suchmodifications and variations be included within the scope of the presentinvention which is defined by the following claims.

What I claim is:
 1. A flat cable clamp, comprising:a base board havingtwo ends; a rockingly movable press board for clamping a flat cable tosaid base board, said press board formed integrally with said base boardat one end thereof and having an engaging hook at the other end thereof;means for locking said base board to said press board, including saidengaging hook, an unlock lever, and an opposing engaging hook disposedat the engaging tip of said unlock lever, the unlock lever and itsengaging hook being formed integrally with the base board at said otherend; said press board presenting an open channel at its tip; and a tabprotruding from the engaging hook at the tip of said unlock lever andadapted for cooperative engagement with said channel in the locked stateand for exerting a pressure on the tip of said press board at the bottomof said channel during unclamping.
 2. The clamp for flat cablesaccording to claim 1 in which the engaging hook at the end of the pressboard is provided as a plurality of stages.
 3. The flat cable clamp ofclaim 1 wherein said press board includes a resilient contact boardformed integrally therewith for biasing the flat cable against said baseboard.
 4. The flat cable clamp of claim 3 wherein the biasing portion ofsaid resilient contact board is in the form of a pantograph.
 5. The flatcable clamp of claim 1, including a guide wall extending outwardly fromthe base board for separating the cable to be clamped from said lockingmeans.
 6. A flat cable clamp, comprisinga base board having two ends; arockingly movable press board for clamping a flat cable to said baseboard, said press board formed integrally with said base board at oneend thereof and having an engaging hook at the other end thereof; meansfor locking said base board to said press board, including said engaginghook, an unlock lever, and an opposing engaging hook disposed at theengaging tip of said unlock lever, the unlock lever and its engaginghook being formed integrally with the base board at said other end; saidpress board presenting an open channel at its tip; and a tab protrudingfrom said base board and adapted for cooperative engagement with saidchannel in the locked state.